<p>I’m a junior, and I got a 2400 on my January 2011 SAT! I worked really hard at it and I’m hoping to go to the school of my choice - that would be Northwestern University!</p>
<p>In terms of SAT subjects, I got an 800 in Biology E and I hope on getting an 800 in U.S. History. </p>
<p>I have around a 90 GPA and my rank isn’t too high.
However, I have about 400 hours of volunteer (300 of those being in an underdeveloped country). </p>
<p>I’m taking three AP tests in May and I’m confident that I will have a total of 4 5s and I will be an AP Scholar with Distinction. </p>
<p>I’m a member of three honor societies. </p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Spanish Club - 9, 10, 11, 12 (Secretary)
Youth Group 9, 10, 11, 12 (Coordinator)
FBLA - 10, 11, 12 (Vice President)
Literature Club 11, 12 (Secretary)
Italian Club - 11, 12
MUN - 11, 12</p>
<p>Other: New Yorker, Female, Overrepresented minority, Upper-middle class</p>
<p>Translation
I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 I got a 2400 </p>
<p>As I am confident you already know - the SAT is just a number paired with your GPA, class rank (high schools rigor), AP’s, SAT II’s etc to determine whether or not you meet the standard of academic preparedness. You aren’t specific in all of your stats, but It would not be a leap to surmise that you could meet the academic preparedness threshold for any of the top 10-12 schools. </p>
<p>But with the top 10-12 schools in the US: Like Northwestern, or Harvard, or Duke, or Princeton - you simply then move onto the equally challenging and more holistic “Fit and Contribution” phase of the admissions process, where your SAT score is no longer pertinent. Hopefully you will work just as hard on your recs, essays, etc. </p>
<p>2400 SAT score is clearly something for which to be proud but admission into Northwestern University may offer you even more pride. Good luck!</p>
<p>Even a perfect score needs to be paired up with a respectable GPA and class rank (top 10%), otherwise your application becomes suspect because it looks like you haven’t been working up to your potential. Remember that the top schools reject more perfect SAT and ACT scores than they accept, although a perfect score will give you a decent statistical bump. </p>
<p>Better make sure you ace all your classes this semester if you want to be competitive for Northwestern next year – an upward trend as classes grow harder will always be looked upon favorably.</p>
<p>GET INVOLVED.
You are a shoe in to top schools with that SAT score ONLY if your EC’s match (and you do well this semester in school).
And looking at your ECs, I’m sorry…but some of them seem just a bit meaningless. Honor societies and a “spanish club” don’t seem super impressive, y’know? Try to give your application DEPTH. If a few of those activities truly matter to you, make that obvious in your application by showing just how you’ve participated. Take advantage of the extracurricular short answer.</p>
<p>I would recommend doing at least one of the following (esp. this summer):
get a job, get an internship, participate in a research project (hey you’re in NYC – no excuses), put together & run a benefit concert or charity fundraiser, or something to that effect. If you do that, you’ll do well in college admissions.</p>
<p>Good job on the standardized tests! But, as others have noted, that’s just one component of your application package. </p>
<p>If the 300 hours of volunteer work in the underdeveloped country were through a program where you pay $5,000 to go to Nepal to build houses (or whatever), they won’t count for much. If they were part of mission trips where you go to Nicaragua and paint fences (or whatever), they might count for more but they still won’t come anywhere near to finding and pursuing opportunities on your own. I can’t tell from your original post exactly what you’ve done . . . I’m just saying that a number of hours won’t tell the whole story and it doesn’t necessarily help you as much as you think it might. It really depends on how those hours were spent.</p>
<p>These people don’t know anything. Top schools LOVE perfect scores. Just keep those Ecs up and you should have plenty of likely letters in the mail senior year.</p>
<p>The SAT is just one component, like everyone has said. You need to be strong all around to get into the top schools in the country. Let’s hope you are. Good luck :)</p>
<p>I don’t think that the “list” of extracurriculars you put on the application is as important as the overall picture you convey of what you would contribute to the school community.
A school like NU will get 5 times as many applicants as they can admit, and most of them are academically qualified. From this group, they build a class based on what they need in the community. If they need a marching glockenspiel, some people who can do lighting design, someone who can arrange a capella music, an heir-apparent to the yearbook editor, someone who will be a workhorse in a community service organization on campus, someone who will be the social glue for his/her dorm hallway, someone who is so cool and quirky that his/her classmates will learn/grow just from knowing him/her–they will choose those from the group of qualified people.</p>
<p>You’ve demonstrated you are one of the academically qualified ones. </p>
<p>Through your essays, and any other materials you submit, tell them a story of who you are and what you bring to the table. I don’t know what your “thing” is, but if you can figure out something tangible (a project of some type) that you can conceive, initiate, and bring to fruition, that’s one way to show what you could potentially contribute on campus.</p>
<p>OP- how many APs will you have taken after your tests in may? you need to have 4/5 on 8 tests to become an AP scholar. sucks for me because i will only have 7 when i graduate.</p>
<p>CPUscientist3000 - I stated that after junior year, I will (most likely) be an AP Scholar with Distinction. </p>
<p>AP Scholar with Distinction - Granted to students who receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams. </p>
<p>I’ll be taking 5 APs senior year! That would be a total of 10 APs - granted I do well, I’ll be a National AP Scholar.</p>
<p>DeskPotato - Thank you so much! That really put it into perspective for me. I think I’m a good writer, and I’ll definitely be able to portray my character in my Common App essay and tell the adcoms at NU why it’s my number one choice. By the way, what do you mean by “any other materials you submit?” Do you think that I can send a videotape of one of my business presentations to NU…? I don’t fully understand.</p>